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CMA Says Nintendo Switch Cannot Run Call Of Duty Games “Technically”

• Jacob Chambers
• April 27th, 2023

The CMA blocked Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard in the UK yesterday. A 418-page final report explained how the authority made its decision.

The report cites several reasons for the block, including its impact on the “fast-growing cloud gaming market,” but WCCFTech pointed out a Nintendo Switch-related reason today.

The acquisition included Microsoft’s 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty games to the Switch, which the CMA believes is not “technically capable” of running the game well:

Nintendo does not currently offer CoD, and we have seen no evidence to suggest that its consoles would be technically capable of running a version of CoD that is similar to those in Xbox and PlayStation in terms of quality of gameplay and content.

The CMA’s report says this despite Microsoft’s previous optimism about a port. In February, Microsoft president Brad Smith said the series would run “as you would expect” on the Switch, and Microsoft Gaming CEO and Xbox boss Phil Spencer said the company wanted to bring “the best version” of CoD to all platforms, including the Switch.

Since Microsoft didn’t control Activision Blizzard’s game publishing, the acquisition was necessary to bring Call of Duty games to the Switch. As expected, Activision Blizzard has criticized the CMA’s decision and Microsoft has stated that it will appeal it in a tweet by Smith, so the proposed acquisition is still a possibility.